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Irving Finkel on the Ark Tablet

Tom Sutcliffe discusses the role of the scientific expert with Harry Collins, Colin Blakemore, Hattie Naylor and Irving Finkel.

Tom Sutcliffe looks at the role of the expert. The curator Irving Finkel decodes the symbols on a 4,000 year old clay tablet and discovers the instructions for the building of an ark. Harry Collins asks why attitudes towards scientific expertise have changed and looks to reassert the special status of science. Colin Blakemore is an expert in neuroscience and vision and he reflects on his part in the documentary, Tim's Vermeer, which explores the relationship between art and science. The playwright Hattie Naylor tells the story of an astronomer going blind who learns to see the wonder of the universe in a different way.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

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43 minutes

Last on

Mon 10 Feb 2014 21:30
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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Irving Finkel

Irving Finkel

Irving Finkel is Assistant Keeper of Ancient Mesopotamian script, languages and cultures in the Department of the Middle East at the British Museum.

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The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood is published by Hodder & Stoughton.

(Photograph Β© Dale Cherry)

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Harry Collins

Harry Collins is Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology and director of the Centre for the Study of Knowledge, Expertise and Science at Cardiff University.

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Are We All Scientific Experts Now? is published by Polity.

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Colin Blakemore

Colin Blakemore is Professor of Neuroscience and Philosophy and director of the Institute of Philosophy's Centre for the Study of the Senses in the School of Advanced Study.

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Tim’s Vermeer is out now and has been nominated for a BAFTA.Μύ The awards ceremony takes place on Sunday 16 February at the Royal Opera House in London and will be broadcast on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One.

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Hattie Naylor

Hattie Naylor is a playwright.

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³§΄Η³ά²Τ»ε&²Ή³Ύ±θ;Ήσ³ά°ω²β’s Going Dark, written by Hattie Naylor in collaboration with Sound&Fury, is on at the Science Museum in London, 5-9 March.

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Credits

Presenter Tom Sutcliffe
Interviewed Guest Harry Collins
Interviewed Guest Colin Blakemore
Interviewed Guest Hattie Naylor
Interviewed Guest Irving Finkel
Producer Katy Hickman

Broadcasts

  • Mon 10 Feb 2014 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Mon 10 Feb 2014 21:30
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

Podcast

  • Start the Week

    Weekly discussion programme, setting the cultural agenda every Monday